Let's Burn the World
by JulchenBeilschmidt02
Summary: (Before Tenrou Arc) Life with Fairy Tail is just as it usually is, when Lucy finds out she's close to being evicted. In order to keep her in her apartment and not on the street, she and Team Natsu take on a job, eventually leading to the discovery of a sinister new enemy... And while that's happening, why is Natsu acting so weird? And who's that girl? (Main pairings: Nalu, GrayxOC)
1. Chapter 1

Evening had fallen over Magnolia, the sun nearly swallowed by the ocean, and Lucy left the guild. After some walking back to her apartment (and yet another warning from the men on the boat), she made it to her home. As she opened her door, she noticed the envelope taped to the wood: an eviction notice. Groaning, Lucy scanned it over...

...to find that she had to get 300,000 jewels paid to her landlady in two weeks.

"B-bakas... if they didn't... stupid Natsu..." Lucy growled, paper crumbling in her hands as a dark aura surrounded her. She fumed for a few more minutes, then sighed and entered her abode, deciding to look for a job tomorrow. Preferably one with less opportunities to destroy things. Knowing Team Natsu, it would be essentially impossible to take on a job without some of the pay getting diverted to pay for damages. The last job, a "simple" search for some plants in the forest, had ended up with an out-of-control forest fire and traumatized villagers. If Juvia hadn't been there (while stalking her "Gray-sama"), it would have been much worse. But, they went home with emptier pockets instead of fuller.

Lucy grabbed three fluffy towels and her pajamas, began to fill her bathtub with steaming water, and began brushing her teeth. She gargled. The bath was steaming after this cycle was completed. Discarding her garments, she eased herself into the comforting, bubble-free water, the tension in her muscles slowly loosening. Smiling, she closed her eyes and leaned back, calves in the air and moving in a scissor-like motion. Thinking back to her overall day, she decided it wasn't so bad until tonight.

In the morning, she woke up, brushed her teeth, yelled at a Happy-free Natsu when she caught him emptying her fridge, made breakfast for both her and her uninvited guest, then walked with said-guest to the guild. At the guild, she proceeded to try finding jobs for her Team, give up, get threatened by Juvia (Love Rival!), tried again, and avoided getting involved with the usual guild fight. And avoiding the table thrown her way. After the fight, she laughed and chatted with Levy until Gray and Natsu began squabbling. That day, Erza had not only cowed both of them into submission - she had terrified the whole guild. Finally, after some more chatter, she had left, only to find the eviction notice glaring at her on her door.

Suddenly, Lucy sat up; did she hear the window open? Wrapping a towel around her body as her hair dripped, small warm droplets falling to the ground from her golden hair, she stepped out of the bath reluctantly and gingerly called, "Natsu...?"

No response.

Then: "Heya, Luce! Can I spend the night?"

Lucy rolled her eyes; of course it was her best friend/unofficial resident of her apartment. "No! Of course not!" Since he had seen her in more revealing wear before, she walked to the kitchen where he would most likely be. The pink-haired dragon slayer was there, head in her fridge. Happy was flying around the room a bit, oblivious to Lucy's annoyance.

"Natsu, how many times have I told you: DON'T RAID MY FRIDGE!" Lucy yelled, angered that this was the second time she found him eating her food. He looked up, mouth stuffed with a leftover sandwich. Not bothering to swallow, Natsu spoke, "I'm hungry, thou-"

He noticed her coverage (or lack of), along with the water rolling down her body in rivulets onto the tiles, promptly stopped speaking, and averted his eyes. He swallowed. Lucy could swear his cheeks flushed a little. But, it was probably a trick of the light; that boy was so oblivious to anything sexual, he probably wouldn't even notice if a girl sauntered in front of him completely naked and covered in chocolate. Knowing him, he'd ask it the girl was cold. Lucy continued glaring, waiting for him to finish his sentence. Gulping, Natsu spoke up, "S-sorry for eating your food," He then looked up and smiled brightly. "See ya tomorrow, Lucy!" Natsu scampered out of the kitchen and through the window, not bothering to wait for his Exceed. Lucy closed her fridge, then looked at the Exceed. "Well?" Lucy growled, gesturing at the window. Happy simply snickered and said, mainly to himself, "They liiiiiiiiiiiike each other...", then zoomed out into the streets after Natsu, barely escaping Lucy's fist.

 _Whatever_ , Lucy thought. _He's just silly._ He was being weird tonight though; she'd check in tomorrow. But, for now, she got in bed and slept, dreaming of finding a perfect job so she could pay her rent.

* * *

 _"D-Doc! The monitors!"  
"What's this...!"  
"Th-that's impossible!"_

 _The girl escaped her prison, breaking the glass tube keeping her in place. The liquid, which kept her suspended, spilled to the floor in a glowing-blue mess. Ripping the life-support and chemical-pumping tubes from her arms, legs, and torso, she stood, on shaky legs, for the first time in years. Smiling, she began to massacre them with the extra magic they had given her. After all, what goes around comes around, nay?_

 _All the while, her eyes remained dull and lifeless, even as she lurched away from the now-burning facility that used to be dedicated to the experiments run on her. Soon, a few miles away from the nearest village in the middle of the forest, what little strength she had gathered left her; her legs gave out and she collapsed, unconscious, into a pile on the green grass. The smoke in the sky blotted out the silver moon._


	2. Chapter 2

"Yo! Cana!" Natsu yelled across the guild. Cana groaned, then looked up groggily, the red imprint of her empty beer barrel on her right cheek. "What time is it..." she grumbled, unaware that she, completely drunk out of her mind, had slept the night at the guild on accident. Currently, she, Natsu, and Happy were the only ones in the large building

"Uh..." Natsu looked at his partner for help; Happy shrugged. "...early in the morning?"

"THEN DON'T WAKE ME UP!" Cana roared from her table, making Natsu flinch and hide behind the blue flying cat. "SAVE ME, HAPPY!" Happy trembled, then flew to the ceiling, abandoning Natsu.

Before Natsu could protest, Cana calmed down slightly. "What the hell do ya want so fuckin' early in the morning?" Unnoticed by any of them, Mirajane entered the guild and began her duties.

"Well, Cana... I was gonna find ya later, but I wanted my fortune told!" Natsu smiled and scratched the back of his head, further mussing up his spiky pink locks. "You were already here, so why not?"

At this point, Natsu had made his way to Cana's table. As he sat down, Mirajane smiled brightly. Slipping a glass of water and some aspirin in front of Cana, she chirped, "Good morning, Cana! Natsu!" Then, she looked up. "Happy!" She waved at him, then walked to the bar and began cleaning beer mugs.

"Aye!" Happy piped up from the ceiling.

Cana rolled her eyes. "Not now..."

"Please?"

"Why?"

Natsu pouted and looked at the ground. "... I dun know, why not?" In truth, Natsu just wanted a bit of indirect help on how he felt.

A vein twitched in Cana's forehead as she furrowed her brows. "You wake me up... fuckin' early... for a FORTUNE... AND YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW WHY?!" She pounded her fist on the table.

"G-gomen!" Natsu shrieked, arms and hands arranged around and in front of his face in an effort to shield himself. Mirajane, shining her seventh beer mug, giggled to herself with a smile.

Cana sighed. "Why not... could use some brushing up..." she grumbled. "Besides, where's ev'rbody else?"

Natsu shrugged.

Soon, Cana had shuffled through her tarot cards, flipping some on the table and putting others aside. Finally, she ended up with four cards: The Tower, The Devil, The Lovers, and Strength. Looking at the cards, she frowned. "Huh. This is odd. It's not giving me just your fortune; it's giving me someone else's."

"Nani?" Natsu asked, intrigued. Staring at the cards, legs crossed on the bench, he waited for Cana's response.

"Well... it's a bit blurry." Cana said. "I'm pretty sure The Lovers apply to you, so look out for a little romance." Realizing what she said, Cana snorted, then proceeded to laugh out loud. "You? Ha!"

"WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?!" Natsu asked/whined.

"N-nothing... absolutely nothing..." Cana's laughs slowly died and she continued, quietly, so Mira wouldn't hear. "I'm pretty sure that The Tower, with the way it fell, means someone important escaped somewhere; not sure how this person is related to ya. I can't tell if Strength applies to this person or you. But, The Devil definitely signifies an enemy. Watch your back, Natsu." Cana shrugged, then swept her cards in a pile.

"Th-that's all?" Natsu asked.

"Hey, it usually doesn't go this far in the future. It must be important." As Cana finished her sentence, Gray (with a certain rain woman trailing undercover behind him) burst into the guild. "Yo! Mira, Cana! Flame-brain!" he yelled. "Happy!"

"Aye!"

"Hi Gray!"

"Shaddup! You're too loud!"

"What did you call me, Ice Princess?!"

* * *

"I found a job, guys!" Lucy cheered, bringing the sheet to her group. "And look at how much it pays!"

"But Lushy, we went on a job three days ago..." Happy moped, oblivious to Lucy's glare. Before she could voice her anger, Natsu piped up. "WHOA! It's easy work, too! And for 2,100,000 jewels!" Natsu yelled, snatching the sheet from his blonde partner's grasp, wrinkling the sheet and almost accidentally burning the paper. Gray plucked it from his rival's unsuspecting hands, saving it from an early death by fire. "What's the description?"

Erza gave him one of her knee-weakening looks. "You're the one holding it, you baka."

"H-hai..." Gray, visibly deflated, turned it over and began reading out loud. Lucy silently jumped up and down, hands fisted together in front of her considerable breasts.

"S-so, 'Dear Guild Member(s)," Gray began.

"My name is Nobuko Barrett, I am the mayor of the town Hildegard. I have an urgent request.

"Around three days ago, maybe ten miles from the outermost farm of our town, a building of some sort that we were not aware of seemingly exploded. We have inspected it and found nothing but ruins.

"This is not the issue. As we made our way back, we were attacked by a girl...'"

"Man that is a long-winded note!" Natsu cried around a mouthful of chicken. After the dragon slayer received a 'whack!' in the head from Lucy, Erza grabbed the sheet and continued.

"'She is a mage of some sort, although we can't tell what kind of magic she uses; it seems to be a mesh.' It must be a user of Copy or Memory magic." Erza concluded. Lucy snatched the sheet and kept reading.

"'In Hildegard, we are a small, agricultural town, and all our wizards have moved to larger cities to find strong guilds.'"

"NANI?!" the team cried. Interested, they leaned closer as Lucy continued."'Although she didn't kill anyone, as she didn't recognize us as a deadly enemy, she seemed to think we were a danger and proceeded to "scare us" away. She could not be reasoned with and, after we fled, we assume she hid again in the forest.

"'Your job is to find and take her to us... Alive. We will all decide the course of action from there on out. Sincerely yours, Nobuko Barrett. (Note: We believe she is a victim of some kind of abuse; kindly do not involve the military.)'"

The team looked at each other, apprehensive. Natsu grumbled a bit under his breath. "On the front, it just said 'Find This Girl'... and with no image, either..."

Exchanging glances, they nodded, reaching a mutual, wordless conclusion. Taking the sheet with her, Lucy strode to Mirajane, thrust the sheet, and said, "We'll take the job."

* * *

 _The girl stumbled around the forest, completely devoid of thought and humanity, relying on base animal instinct. As she swept here and there, she found an alcove in the ground, hidden under a rock. Sliding into it feet first, she curled up in the fetal position, conserving warmth and rebuild her strength._

 _She'd find nourishment in the morning._

 _Laying there, rock above and packed, slightly moist dirt around and below, she stared at the small slit of sunlight shining in, watching tiny dust particles dance in the beams. She began to try thinking about who she was, the only fact known to her being the label assigned by the bad humans. A flash of memory came to her: a cave, a companion, a large, not-human being who smelled of charcoal and smoke. The names escaped her grasp, as did the defined features._

 _Suddenly, she gasped. The sharp intake of air, unfortunately, also drew in some dirt particles. Coughing out the unwelcome material, she steadily breathed, then grasped the name that had come to mind. The name of the one she held dearest to her._

 _"N-Natsu..." she croaked, voice quiet and cracking with what could be either lack of use or screaming._

 _In her small, make-shift den, she drifted off into the black void of sleep._


End file.
